Coca-Cola Co. v. Vivian Ice, Light & Water Co.

90 So. 755, 150 La. 445, 1922 La. LEXIS 2579
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJanuary 30, 1922
DocketNo. 22686
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 90 So. 755 (Coca-Cola Co. v. Vivian Ice, Light & Water Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coca-Cola Co. v. Vivian Ice, Light & Water Co., 90 So. 755, 150 La. 445, 1922 La. LEXIS 2579 (La. 1922).

Opinions

DAWKINS, J.

This is an action in damages and for injunction to restrain the alleged illegal use of a trade-mark.

Defendant admits substantially the'allegations of fact charged against it, but denies the conclusions of law drawn therefrom by the plaintiff.

There was judgment below in favor of plaintiff for the sum of $1,000, under the trade-mark statute of this state, enjoining the- defendant from using the trade-name of the plaintiff, ordering it to account to the plaintiffs for the profits derived from! the same, and that it deliver up to plaintiffs, or some one designated by them, “any and all bottles, crowns, labels, boxes, or advertising matter in its possession upon which appears the name ‘Coco-Cola,’ or in association with any other words, and also all of the products in a form sufficiently similar to the product of the plaintiffs to cause deception,” and that plaintiffs be' decreed to have the sole and exclusive use of the trade mark or name “Coca-Cola,” in connection with any drink or beverage.

Defendant prosecutes this appeal.

Opinion.

The plaintiffs are the Coca-Cola Company, a Georgia corporation, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, incorporated under the laws of [447]*447Tennessee, and the Star Bottling "Works, Limited, a Louisiana corporation. The Georgia corporation is what might be termed the parent company, owner and possessor of the trade-mark “Coca-Cola,” and under which it -manufactures two kinds of syrup bearing that name; one to be used in the preparation of a soft drink of the same name by soda fountains, which is sold to the trade generally, and the other to be used in putting up the beverage for distribution in bottles. The second syrup is distributed exclusively through the Tennessee corporation, which is required to make definite and specific contracts with those to whom the syrup is sold for bottling purposes, and under which certain well-defined restrictions are imposed as to the quantity and proportions of the syrup to be used, and as to the right of inspection by representatives of the Coca-Cola Company, in order to determine the sanitary conditions under which the bottled drink is to be made; the purpose being, It is alleged, to maintain a particular standard of purity and cleanliness to sustain the reputation of the beverage.

The formula for making the syrup is a secret one, but the record discloses that the kind furnished to soda fountains is not as strong as that intended for bottling purposes ; the proportions of ingredients used being considerably dissimilar.

Defendant purchased a considerable quantity of the syrup intended for use at fountains, and by the use of a larger proportion than that intended for bottling, and adding some caramel syrup for coloring purposes, had been and was manufacturing, putting up, and selling in bottles to the trade generally a beverage with the name “Coca-Colá” stamped on the caps and blown into the bottles, and with the name Vivian Ice Company stamped thereon as the manufacturer or bottler.

The lower court has covered the case so admirably in its written opinion that we adopt and quote from the same at length as follows:

“There can be no dispute about plaintiffs being the owners of this trade-mark, both under the laws of the United States and of the state of Louisiana. Under the United States registration, it covered, not only the syrup,, but the beverage or drink to be made from the syrup.

“Section 3 of Act 49 of 1898, after providing for the registration of the trade-mark and the description of the merchandise to be covered by it, provides that ‘No other person,’ etc., ‘has the right to such use, either in the identical form or in any such near resemblance thereto as may be calculated to deceive.’ Section 5 of this same act provides that ‘Every such person [the owner] may proceed by suit to enjoin the manufacture, use, display or sale of any counterfeits or imitations thereof,’ and the courts shall have the right to grant injunctions restraining such use, etc.

[ I ] “Defendant has undoubtedly used the trade-mark of plaintiffs without their consent, and under this act we do not think it makes any difference whether the article contained in the bottle was genuine Goea-Oola or not.

“But, irrespective of this state law, we shall discuss the case from the standpoint of the federal law.

“A trade-mark is designed, not only for the protection of the owner of same, but as well for the protection of the purchasing public; it is a guaranty that the buyer is getting the very article"signified by the trade-mark; it is a guaranty by the manufacturer himself that the receptacle contains the very contents intended to be covered by that trade-mark.

“We. shall first take up for discussion the authorities cited by counsel for defendant, which authorities, it is contended, bear out the contention that these contracts are in violation of the anti-trust laws, and the equitable writ of injunction does not lie to maintain them.

“The first case is that of Adams v. Burks, 17 Wall. 453, 21 L. Ed. 700. All that was held in that case was that when a patented article was once sold the purchaser of same had the right to use it wherever he pleased, and that the right of use. stood on a different footing from the right to make and sell.

“The next case is that of Keeler v. Folding Bed Co., 157 U. S. 639, 15 Sup. Ct. 738, 39 L. Ed. 848, in which the could; said: ‘One who buys patented articles of manufacture from one authorized to sell them within the territory o'f [449]*449the purchase becomes possessed of an absolute property in such articles, unrestricted in time or place, and may sell them in other territory of other assignees of the patent, although he purchased them for the purpose of selling them in such other territory.’ We do not think this case has any bearing; if the defendant had been selling the syrup in the original package under the original trade-mark, having purchased same and becoming the absolute owner thereof, then there would be some similarity of cases, and the defendant would have the right to so sell.

“The nest case is that of Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus, 210 U. S. 339, 28 Sup. Ct. 722, 52 L. Ed. 1086. In that case the plaintiff was attempting to fix the price of the copyrighted book by contract with the retailer, and the court held the same to be in restraint of trade; there was no question involved in that ease of trade-mark, or the protection of the integrity- of the goods represented by that trade-mark, but merely a price-fixing scheme, something that is not attempted in this casé.

“The ease of Miles Medicine Co. v. Park, 220 U. S. 373, 31 Sup. Ct. 376, 55 L. Ed. 502, was also nothing but a price-fixing scheme, which was held to be in restraint of trade.

“In the case of Park v. Hartman, 153 Fed. 24, 82 C. C. A. 158, 12 L. R. A. (N. S.) 135, known as the Peruna Case, the question of infringement of a trade-mark or unfair competition did not arise; it was merely another attempt to fix prices for retailers by means of contracts with the retailers.

“In the Appollinaris Case (C. C.) 27 Fed. 18, it was the genuine ‘Hunyadi-Janos’ water as put out by' the original bottler and owner of the trade-mark, and as bottled by the owner of the trade-mark.

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90 So. 755, 150 La. 445, 1922 La. LEXIS 2579, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coca-cola-co-v-vivian-ice-light-water-co-la-1922.